Police say man picked on troopers

Posted: Thursday, October 04, 2007

Officers arrested an intoxicated Duluth man in downtown Athens early Wednesday after he tried picking a fight with a group of men, four of whom were off duty Georgia State Patrol troopers, Athens-Clarke police said.

Chad Jeremy Hepler, 21, followed and taunted the men as they walked on East Clayton Street about 2 a.m., and at one point picked up a bar stool from the sidewalk in front of a restaurant and swung it at the men, police said.

One of the troopers shielded his friends by blocking the stool with his forearm, according to police.

The men yelled for help to an Athens-Clarke officer on bicycle patrol nearby, and Hepler was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, criminal trespass to property and public intoxication, police said.